Lebanon entering state of 'exodus' as political, economic crises accelerates

Lebanon entering state of 'exodus' as political, economic crises accelerates
August 31, 2021, 9:34 am

lebanon with flags

The Arab News reported, immigration from Lebanon is entering a state of “exodus” as the many crises hitting the small Mediterranean country remain unresolved.

According to the Crisis Observatory, which is an interdisciplinary research program launched by the American University of Beirut, the continuing immigration of thousands of Lebanese is reaching a tipping point with alarming indicators suggesting that scores of people are escaping political, economic and social hardship.

Nasser Yassine, the program’s director, told Arab News: “Airport data is misleading, as a number of those exiting the country could be doing so for tourism or business trips.”

Yet several patterns suggest Lebanon is nearing the beginning of a mass exodus wave — the third in its history.

Yassine said: “The alarming percentage of Lebanese youth who want to leave, the mass migration of medical and education staff and the expected chronicity of Lebanon’s crisis are worrying signs.”

According to the Arab News, the Arab Youth Opinion Survey revealed last year that 77 percent of young people were thinking about emigrating — the highest rate of any Arab country.

According to the report, this is a direct consequence of Lebanon’s collapse, which has forced 61 percent of companies in Lebanon to reduce their permanent staff numbers by an average of 43 percent.

The health and education sectors, once staples of Lebanon’s identity, have also been hit hard. According to data reviewed by the observatory, 1,600 nurses have emigrated since 2019 while hundreds of educators have left for the Gulf or North America.

The report said: “At the American University of Beirut alone, 190 professors have departed, making up about 15 percent of the educational body.”

The report added, with no end in sight for Lebanon’s various crises, “hundreds of thousands will be forced to leave their homeland in pursuit of investment, work, study and retirement.”

The report concluded, “if we add to these three ‘local’ indicators another factor, which is the increasing need for labor, professionals and youth in many (of) the most advanced countries in the world, which are witnessing a decline in population growth rates and an increase in the proportion of the elderly, then we can conclude a large wave of Lebanese immigration in the coming years.”

Source: arabnews

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